The vexed question of discarded chewing gum on the streets of Mullingar will have to be re-addressed, when it was revealed this week the experimental‘gumbuster’ machine employed recently by the council “was more damaging to the surfaces than to the gum”.
This came to light in reply to a question from Cllr Aidan Davitt at this week’s meeting of the Mullingar area committee, after he had noticed a recent increase in its pavementt proliferation.
“It’s a serious problem, and I’ve noticed an awful lot of it on Oliver Plunkett and Pearse Street, and particularly with the new paving gone in...is the gumbuster machine still in operation on Mullingar’s footpaths?” he asked.
In reply, senior executive engineer. Howard Costello explained how the area office had carried out a trial with Gumbusters, the Meath-based contract cleaning firm who provide the service, but found it “unsatisfactory”.
“This machine used high pressure water and unfortunately, was more damaging to the surfaces than the gum,” he said.
“The Mullingar area office will investigate other methods for this work,” he added, without specifying what.
